Bridge cranes and conveyor systems use overhead track or runway beams and movable bridge beams formed of steel or aluminum alloy materials in various configurations. Many of these include channels that provide wheel tracks for wheeled elements such as trolleys and end trucks that support loads for movement along the length of the beams. Strength is an important consideration in configuring such beams, but so is cost of material and ease of cutting, drilling, and assembling beams into many different sizes and shapes of cranes and conveyor systems.
Crane and conveyor beams have been extruded of aluminum alloy material, which has the advantage of being easy to cut and drill and having a high strength-to-weight ratio, for simplifying assembly. H-shaped configurations have been used for extruded aluminum alloy beams for such crane and conveyor purposes; but I have found these to be wasteful of material, less than optimum in strength for the material used, and inconvenient for assembling and aligning into complete systems. I have improved on this by configuring a more efficient beam.